Tag Archives: SGD INR prediction 2013

We are well into second quarter of the year and its time for an update on the SGD INR projection.

Even with my best intentions to share thoughts on the pair as early as April its only now that I got sometime. Neverthless there have been some interesting developments in the past weeks which can impact the movement of the pair and its a good time to try and ascertain the trend in light of these.

On April 13 2013 the MAS maintatined its tight monetary policy stance even though the GDP unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter of the year and On 3 May 2013, the Indian Central bank lowered the key rates to 7.5%.

There was a expectation that with slowing GDP growth the MAS would allow the SGD to weaken against the other currencies and the USD-SGD might touch 1.28 mark. However with the inflationary pressures the monetary authority decided to keep the band and slope of policy bank unchanged.

On the other hand the RBI lowered the rates to boost growth in the slowing Indian economy.

Both the events are positive for the respective currencies and though INR has remained around 54 mark to USD, SGD moved from lows of 1.25 to 1.23 after the news.

With both the currencies showing some strength the SGD INR pair would remain stangnant in the 42-44 band. The pair has formed a strong resistance at the 44 level and I do not see it breaching this in the next few months.

With slowing growth the SGD might march back towards the 1.25 mark which would push the SGD INR pair towards the 42 levels.

So if you are looking to invest in India then a exchange rate of 43.5 – 44 would be a good rate to use

Its hard to believe that we are already in February of 2013 and that calls for me to keep up on my promise and share with you my thoughts on SGD INR movements in the near term.

The trend so far has been inline with what I had expected in Dec 2012 – The pair has maintained the range of 42-46 with a downward bias (Read more: SGD-INR: How does 2013 look like?) and trades at 42.99 as I write.

SGD INR made multiple attempts to breach the 45 mark but have been unsuccessful. In the meantime a few interesting developments have happened on the fundamental front.

RBI came out and cut the rates by 25 basis points to stroke growth and the financial markets have taken a more “risk on” approach. The former would result in NRE deposit rates being lowered in the long term and the latter would attract FII in to the Indian Markets chasing growth.

At the same time the Indian Finance minister has promised financial reforms and started with reducing the fuel subsidies which helps reduce the Indian Budget deficit. This is also positive for the Rupee.

On the SGD front the currency has lost 2% against the USD and now trades at 1.24 as compared to 1.22 late last year.

These factors combined have seen SGD INR soften below 43 mark.

The question which people ask often is that how low will the pair fall and will SGD INR reach 45 again?

My view is that in the short term the pair would increase and move to cross the Rs.44 mark – The US debt ceiling discussions are due soon and so is Indian budget for 2013.

The uncertainty on the policy front would result in INR weakening against the USD which would mean a weaker INR against the SGD.

The recent spike in Crude Oil prices would add to woes for Indian Rupee.

So in-case the recent drop of SGD/INR has left you scrambling like Oct 2012 then don’t panic – next few weeks should give you an opportunity to see the pair touching 44 again.

Enjoy the Holidays and wishing you a very Happy Chinese New Year!! Gong Xi Fa Chai